Do you want to be a part of a great Bearcat tradition? Do you like FREE PIZZA? If you answered yes to both, then come out this Wednesday to Paint the Paws @ 3 pm and join the Binghamton Spirit Squads as we Paint the Paws leading to the Admissions Center. After we Paint the Paws there will be FREE pizza served. Hope everyone comes out for the event and Go Bearcats! #BingPride

RSVP LINK IN POST

Hello Bearcat Fans and BU Zoo members, Make sure to come out to the Binghamton Events Center on November 11th to cheer on your Bearcats as the Women’s Basketball team faces Bucknell and the Men’s Team faces Cornell. Admission is free as long as you have your Binghamton ID. There also will be FREE PIZZA and 150 BU ZOO Shirts given out for this exciting event. Also for the first 100 fans who RSVP to this google form, there will be a VIP tailgate at the events center before the Women’s game at 5:30. There will be free food, and other giveaways at the tailgate so you definitely don’t want to miss it.*** HERE IS THE LINK FOR THE VIP TAILGATE*** RSVP Google Form – Binghamton.edu email

Do you like Free Smores and Hot Chocolate? Want to meet members of the Men’s & Women’s Basketball Team and Coach Cimino and Coach Dempsey? Bearcat fans who attend bonfire will also be eligible to get a ticket to the VIP tailgate party before the Double Header Home opener on November 11th. If any of those things sound interesting or you want to hear more then come out to the Newing Fire Pit on Wednesday, November 9th at 8:00 PM.

On Monday, February 8, 2016, The BU Zoo and Binghamton Athletics held our Pack The House night as the men’s basketball team took on Albany. We had 1374 students in attendance! A thanks to Lisa Applebaum and BU Athletics for taking the photos! Check out the gallery!

Students showing off their Yowies

Students showed up early to Pack The House

Spirit Squads for life!

Spirit Squads for life!

Students showed up early to Pack The House

BU Zoo shirts were distributed to the first 250 students

Mr. Green distributed limited edition BU Zoo rally rags to students

The Pep Band was ready to go!

Mr. Green distributed limited edition BU Zoo rally rags to students

Hinman’s Mascot Tiki was excited to see Baxter! Hinman won our Reslife contest and was awarded $250 towards their community

Introducing the 342 blog! Here we will share our experience with launching the BU Zoo and give tips for launching student sections at other schools! We start off with founder and former president of the BU Zoo, Andrew Loso.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then you win.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

This is a quote that resonates strongly with me, and many people on Binghamton University campus. As a 2015 graduate of Binghamton, I often find myself reflecting on my time on campus, and what made Binghamton University as a whole an institution that I love with my whole heart and whose student body I admire greatly. As someone who was actively involved in the advancement and promotion of Binghamton, I was often asked a simple question: Why? Why Binghamton? Why do you so passionately support and speak so highly of your campus? My reason lies in the words of Mahatma Gandhi. If I had to boil down the essence of the Binghamton student body into one phrase, it would be “enthusiastic betterment”. A Binghamton student is unafraid to better him or herself, that much is a given. Many Binghamton students do not come from privileged backgrounds, but regardless, accept and embrace the challenge of attending one of the most rigorous public schools in the country. But what captivates me the most about the students at Binghamton is their eagerness to enthusiastically dedicate themselves to the betterment of matters that are important to them. A Binghamton student is unafraid to be the first student to stand up and work to move their campus and their world in a better direction, even if they may be ignored, even if they may be laughed at, even if they may be mocked as supporting something futile. A Binghamton student simply does not care, because the soul of Binghamton campus is rooted in enthusiastic betterment.

I found this soul to be manifest in no better form than in the BU Zoo. When I arrived on campus five years ago, many aspects of the campus were boasted. “The Premier Public University of the Northeast!” I proudly thought to myself as I began my classes, took my tests, meet my friends. I also felt pride in the value the university provides; joining a cohort of students who operate at an ivy league level, but at a public school price and with a public school humility. What I did not see, and what many students complained about, was a stark lack of school spirit. This struck me most profoundly when I attended my first basketball game, only to be greeted by no more than a hundred students, spaced out on the bleachers, lacking any semblance of collective energy. Myself as well as a few friends decided early on that we would dedicate our college careers to fixing this problem. School spirit is more than cheering for a team, it is the unity of tens of thousands of souls, rallying around a single cause. School spirit knows no race, no gender, and no social boundary. It is the most inclusive force on campus, and that was something I knew I could get behind.

For a long time, the small, dedicated group I worked with was ignored. We met, held a handful of events, and represented nothing more than white noise on campus; a small, perhaps even delusional group of students taking on a culture that apparently could be changed by nothing more than a winning sports team. For a long time, we were laughed at. Classmates mocked the hard work, people proclaimed a lack of school spirit even when we thought we created some. Then, something started to happen. The naysayers began to graduate. The Zoo began to interact with incoming classes. Slowly, ever so slowly, the idea that Binghamton does have a spirit did not seem so taboo. Slowly, ever so slowly, the stands began to wear green. Slowly, the tradition of Green Day Friday became a bit of a norm; a bit of a part of the normal experience. It was in this process, in this dedication, that I realized the true beauty of the Binghamton student.

This by no means is limited to the Zoo. The Zoo is a great example of something bigger than the Zoo, bigger than all of us. It is the beauty of enthusiastic betterment. It is the process the Mahatma Gandhi touches upon, and it is the reason why Binghamton is a university I stand behind, and am immensely proud to call my own.

So- I ask you, my fellow current students who I am increasingly envious of as I pursue a career in corporate America. How do you wish to spend your four years? They will be over faster than you could possibly begin to imagine. Commit to something. Make something better. If school spirit is your vibe, I invite you to join the fine boys and girls of the BU Zoo in the stands for the next game, and help them in their process that continues to this day. If not, I invite you to consider dedicating yourself to something you care about on campus, perhaps even a group or initiative that currently is being ignored. Perhaps a group or initiative that is currently being laughed at. Because, in time, you will win, and you will have memories that you will trade for nothing.

Join The BU Zoo and BTV in the marketplace on Saturday at noon to watch the Binghamton University Men’s Basketball team take on the nationally-ranked number three Michigan State Spartans! Tully’s will debut their brand new menu items and there will be givaways and raffles from BU Dining Services and the BU Bookstore! And of course…FREE POPCORN! So come on down and cheer on your Bearcats!